"Wait, I can do that?"

[BehattedWanderer]

I recently found out that if you fail the third door's challenge in Bowser's castle in Paper Mario, you can challenge three Anti-guys. Years of playing this series, and I was missing out on a whole level worth of experience and one of the most challenging, tactical fights I've ever had in a turn based RPG.

 

[zinho73]

Pretty much every 5 hours or so in Dark Souls I came to realize that I could do something in a much easier way. Worst offenders:
- running attacks;
- double drink estus flasks;

 

[A Satanic Panda]

When I realized 80 hours in that Skyrim had a perks system.

 

[Silas13013]

Pretty much every 5 hours or so in Dark Souls I came to realize that I could do something in a much easier way. Worst offenders:
- running attacks;
- double drink estus flasks;

It may be mild dyslexia, it may be sleep deprivation, but I read that as "double dunk fetus blasts"

For me, zooming in sniper rifles in most games. I'm used to only one zoom level but a lot of games now have multiple so when I run across them, I rarely check until someone points it out.

 

[Fitzcaraldo]

Wait... you can sell stuff in X-COM? Christ, no wonder I always lose that game. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Signa]

I remember a similar mind-blowing experience in Morrowind when I learned how to soultrap. I had to go and buy back all my soul gems from the vendors I was selling them to. I also was about level 30, so I had the whole range of enemies to go through to find the best souls.

 

[Idlemessiah]

Minecraft. Shift clicking in inventory. My brain fell out when I discovered it by accident.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

I love playing JRPGs. For those of you who remember FF8 and FF9 and the like, probably remember the tutorials for weapons and equipment, various powerups and gems used to do this or that...And I remember when I was 12 when I got my first console. I got Final Fantasy 8 and barely paid any attention to the instructions, partially because I was impatient, partially because I didn't really get it (mostly because I wasn't willing to take the time to consider the meaning of the words I was reading), and partially because I didn't think it was important (12 year olds, think they know everything).

Imagine my surprise when I'd come up to a boss I couldn't defeat and I didn't understand why. Hmmm maybe it's the fact that you haven't upgraded weapons or powers dumbass. So imagine my further surprise when a few years later I'd replay FF8 and find that it's actually quite simple if you just read the tutorial and pay a sliver of attention.

I did this too... the problem was years later when playing again (the first time when I was young I did get tho the 3rd disk without mapping any magic to any attribute) i then went the opposite way... I wouldn't leave an area until I had 100 of the best magic so far junctioned to each attribute... :S

 

[Ragsnstitches]

I found out only recently that you can command Followers from afar in skyrim... this made it so much more interesting, as I could send my companion into melee and keep myself at range, while also giving commands for my companion to switch targets.

It also made stealth a heck of a lot more interesting, as I could command my companion to wait and then call them back from afar rather then running right back up to them.

That's the most recent thing that I can remember.

 

[Alssadar]

first time I played Fallout: New Vegas I didn't realise these people I kept meeting (who kept saying things like "what shall I do now?") Could be companions.

My first play-through I was completley alone!

The very same way with me. And then I did the entirety of Vault 22 in my lonesome...
That place freaked the crap out of my ass. (The mutants have no eyes, yet they still see me!)

Legate Lanius was a pain as well, placing mines and running like hell.

 

[Alssadar]

Rawr captacha double

 

[Alssadar]

Don't mind me; I just like triplets -.-

 

[Vanilla_Druid]

I usually have no idea how something affects the game until it is too late. Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen taught me that.

 

[Saulkar]

When I played my first RTS: CNC: Red Alert, I would click on individual units to move them across the map before I was drag selecting icons on my Windows 98 desktop and it dawned on me to drag select my units! I tried it, it worked! Holy shit! I could now command a whole army... at once!

 

[spanielcheckers]

I didn't realize through most of Neverwinter Nights 2 that there was no limit on how frequently I could rest outside of combat.

 

[scar_47]

Didn't know you could hold down the drink button if fallout 3 making replenishing hp by drinking pretty much unusable because it took so long, I didn't know that you could use the dpad to use a healing item in dead space I had to keep opening the rig menu which doesn't pause the game I figured that out about halfway through the game, in AC2 I couldn't figure out how to use smelling salts had to look it up, and in MGS 3 I didn't understand how the supressors worked they wear out and you have to re-equip a new one felt pretty dumb running around cursing my lack of a silenced weapon while carrying a dozen supressors.

 

[Mariakko]

I was playing Deus Ex: Invisible War and came across this closed door. I was out of Multitools and explosives and was trying to bash the thing in with my fists (to no avail) and after 5 minutes I realized I could right click to open doors normally.

 

[teqrevisited]

The first time I played through Fallout 3 I didn't know how much you could get away with stealing so I didn't touch anything that wasn't mine. The second time around if someone brushed up against me in a hallway I was surprised when my pockets didn't explode and shower them with all of the things that I'd nicked while noone was looking. The amount of times I'd exceed the carry weight because I'd stolen everything that wasn't nailed down... That's when I found out how easy it was to get cash.